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Day 16

Total trip distance traveled was approximately 9400km round trip. Left Iowa at 7:50 this morning, 12:03 hrs later I was home. Google is creepy accurate, it estimated something like 11 hrs driving, 12:01 with traffic. 700 miles and they had it almost to the minute. Smooth riding the whole way, sunny until about joliet (before chicago), then light rain on and off until lansing michigan. I was almost prescient, donning my rain attire at the gas station immediately before the rain (having guessed in the morning where I thought the weather and me would intersect). No wait at the border this time, took more time to remove my helmet then to have them check my passport. Gas is way cheaper in the US, even at the most in the US it would be like $14 to fill up, but I had to fill up in Canada for like $19. To keep with routine, and to stretch my legs (and I have no food at home right now) I walked uptown for dinner tonight.

I've had a great time and I am already thinking about the next one, (eastern canada perhaps? I intended to do that last year, before breaking my foot in the summer) but for now the bike is safely tucked away in the garage and deserves a through scrubbing and polishing tomorrow.

Posted May 7 2011, 10:27pm via flickr.com.

Home, 12 hrs on the road today.

Posted May 7 2011, 8:20pm via twitter.com.

Day 15

Not much to mention for today, sorry, nebraska and iowa are pretty boring. Hit a little bit of traffic in omaha around rush hour, but only a little. 700 miles to go. Will need some new gloves when I get home, these ones are getting kinda worn out.

Posted May 6 2011, 11:03pm via flickr.com.

Day 14

Somewhere I missed a day or something, since this is actually day 14, not 13? Anyways, left the salt flats (see picture, at start still has vegetation, later there is just nothing but white) this morning. Its been a cold day, and the white of the salt almost looked like snow at first... That would come later. Really flat and really straight crossing. If your speed delta from other cars is only like a few mph it takes like 10 minutes to catch up to the next car to pass. Also, warning: the gas stations are spaced out, there isn't one for about a 70 mile stretch.

Crossed over my first set of mountain ranges at salt lake city, up to around 7000 ft, snow either side of the highway again. Then you're in wyoming. It's kinda meh, its not quite boring, but close. There are lots of hills and stuff but its fairly unpopulated and only gentle curves. Miles go pretty quickly. There isn't really anything to look at except lots and lots of snow fences. Also, it seems like every 5 miles there is a sign saying "strong winds next 5 miles"... How about at the start they just put up a sign, "strong winds next ALL of wyoming." Fortunately it was a tail wind, so didn't really come into play. Crossing the second major range at laramie takes you up to 8500ft, glad I had enough gear to keep warm. I am just into nebraska, and will cross it tomorrow.

Posted May 5 2011, 11:56pm via flickr.com.

Day 12

First day of travel back east, did about 600 miles. Picked up my bike first thing in the morning, everything running smooth. Fresh set of battle axe touring tires ready to be broken in. Heading out of SF across the golden gate was fun, seemed smaller this time around because I could actually see all of it at once. Last time I crossed it was all foggy. From SF to Sacramento was okay and smooth going. From Sacramento to Reno things got interesting, I was riding up around 7000 ft crossing over the mountains. There is still tons of snow up that high, like 10ft either side of the highway. Really beautiful riding. Fortunately the highway was nice and dry. From nov 1 to apr 30 trucks legally must carry chains and use if needed, so any earlier this route might not have worked. Saw cabins still half buried in snow, felt weird to be riding right beside them. The rest of I-80 through nevada was pretty boring and straight, but went by fast. Cold as well, good thing I had my cold weather gear easily accessible to layer.

Rode right to sunset, made it all the way to wendover, and a few hundred meters across the border into utah and mountain time. Wendover is a strange town, being on the border the nevada half is all casinos, the utah half motels. Close to the salt flats so they have tons of capacity for when events happen in the salt flats, but its mostly empty right now on the utah side. Last photo of SF to post, no photos of snow from today.

Posted May 5 2011, 1:23am via flickr.com.

Day 11

Short post, mostly just hung out today. Replaced Keith's shower head with a better one. Went to the SF MoMA, had some good food for dinner and that was it. Picture is just a misc view. Tomorrow I start the trip back, kinda feels like 3 vacations in one. Coming here, visiting and then another going home. Weather forecast along the route back appears mostly sunny at this point, will exit SF via the golden gate tomorrow morning. Plan is basically I-80 from here to chicago.

Posted May 4 2011, 3:14am via flickr.com.

Day 10

Took my bike into the shop this morning, need tires and a tune up. Bonus, will let him keep it till wednesday morning and get free overnight parking for tuesday :)

Went for lunch and did some walking around after dropping the bike off then headed back to keith and just hung out in the afternoon while he worked. Then we went out to the cable car museum, which is also where all the cables actually go and the shop for the cable cars. Pretty neat to see the big machinery powering it and learn about all the maintenance it takes just to keep the things running. The brakes only last 2 days! (Mine incidentally are still fine). Short version history: cable cars were invented by a local manufacturer of metal rope used in mines during gold rush, cable cars were an expansion on the concept of mining carts that ran on cables. Hills to steep for horses, profit margins after feeding horses to low, enter cable cars.

We had our more fancy dinner tonight then went elsewhere for dessert and that's it for today. Tomorrow SF MoMA, as its free on the first tuesday of the month (tomorrow).

Weather looks good for a northern route home, will continue to monitor forecasts.

Posted May 3 2011, 3:19am via flickr.com.

Day 9

Slept in again, then we went for brunch. We took muni to one of the parks keith likes to go to on the weekend. The place was pretty full, people and dogs everywhere. After hanging out for a while we went for cookies, as apparently that's something they do here.

Then we went for an earlier dinner in order to catch the boat for the night time alcatraz tour. Cancelled. The fire alarms on the island weren't working so they had to evacuate the island earlier today. Who knew it was so easy to escape, all you need is the fire alarms to stop working. They were offering refunds or re-booking to next week, so we had to take the refund.

At least we rode the cable car today. It actually stops right in front of his house, so beyond the novelty, it is actually a useful way for keith to get home. Plus you get to stand on the side all cool looking.

Posted May 2 2011, 2:53pm via flickr.com.

Day 8

I've been typing these in the morning instead of at night, different travel routine when visiting vs when on the road. So its Day 9 now, but delayed post again.

Today we went for breakfest in the marina district, then keith did some needed shopping. After we went and saw the sea lions at pier 39. They are noisy and big, and mostly just sit around barking but worth seeing if you are here.

After we took a bus up the hill (since I now have a clipper card for getting around) to Coit tower. You pay 5 bucks and can take the elevator to the top to get some good vistas around the city. We walked back down telegraph hill towards Keith's previous location when he first moved here. We had what is supposedly the best pizza in the city, but is actually still bested by McMullans in Waterloo.

Posted May 1 2011, 3:29pm via flickr.com.

Day 7

Delayed post again. Slept in for the first time, then walked down to a motorcycle place that had good reviews. Arranged to bring my bike in to him on monday for a tuneup.

I walked around during the afternoon, while keith worked. Later we went to the mission for mexican and ice cream and walked around some more. Alcatraz in the background, going on a tour there sunday.

Posted April 30 2011, 2:55pm via flickr.com.

Day 7

Breakfast at a coffee shop nearby, where keith often works from, as he did this morning. I ate and played on the playbook while he did whatever it is he does. Afterwards we went to a park, Keith did some more work, went for lunch and had a pastrami sandwich, went to the ferry building, some more work while I enjoyed the waterfront. Having a laptop with 3G is convenient. Its allows him to work from anywhere, so we were able to moving around all day, while he was still able to his get work done.

Some random history for today, Leavenworth Street (Keith's St.) is not named after General Leavenworth (who's namesake is given to leavenworth prison, fort leavenworth etc in kanas) which was my assumption, but after Alcalde Leavenworth (spanish pronunciation al-cal-day, alcalde was equivalent to a magistrate) of San Francisco. Also Geary Street is named after Alcalde Geary, who became the first mayor of SF.

We got tickets to the Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino concert tonight at the fillmore, (of fame for being a writer on 30 rock, the daily show, doing hilarious standup, youtube famous, playing Troy on the show Community and now rapper). It was a pretty good show, he is a hard working guy and the effort shows. He opens for himself doing his standup routine, then there was a (pre-recorded, shown on screen) facetime call with james murphy formerly of LCD soundsystem, and then he gets a facetime call from his future self where he goes off stage to meet himself and its shown on screen (hard to explain, but funny in the Troy and Abed way), then he comes back on stage and it kicks into the Childish Gambino part of the concert. Also, its funny that he is very much a #stuffwhitepeoplelike rapper, probably the only rap concert you can go to and see someone wearing a Drupal tshirt.

Posted April 29 2011, 4:16am via flickr.com.

Day 6

Delayed post. I arrived in SF and met up with Keith around 4pm. I drove up the coast from monterey to SF, takes about an hour and half. The first section is okay but once you get to about half moon bay you're into more populated area and thus not as fun. Since Keith wasn't available till 4 I had a few hours to drive around various neighborhoods and get my bearings. Lots and lots of steep hills with stop signs, be prepared for some clutch work.

I'll be visiting here for the next ~5 days and seeing the sights. We have a number of things planned involving sea lions, alcatraz, MoMA, donald glover, cable car museum and lots of good food. The bike is parked in a secure lot nearby, $45 for the week, which is a good rate since its $20 a day normally. The advantages of a motorcycle is you can park where cars can't so they give you a better deal. I will probably go off on a few adventures of my own while keith is working during the day, maybe try the curvy lombard st and cross golden gate again when its not foggy this time around.

Posted April 28 2011, 3:00pm via flickr.com.

Day 5

Crossed the mojave desert, wasn't bad for temperature, but a little windy. Then I crossed through the valley where pretty much all our food comes from. Its tough to be the right temperature all day going from mountains to desert I had to layer up and down in gear a few times. Keith isn't in SF tonight, so I didn't want to be there if he wasn't. I decided I was going to go the scenic route along the coast along the PCH. I headed towards the coast at Cambria and head north... except about 15 miles later the highway was closed, something about the highway falling in to the sea or something inconvenient like that. I had to back track for about a total 120KM, but at least it was a fun route and had views like this. Tomorrow the coast to SF from monterey tonight.

Posted April 27 2011, 2:22am via flickr.com.

Well apparently hwy 1 fell into the sea about a month ago on the section I was just heading towards... time to back track in land

Posted April 26 2011, 8:24pm via twitter.com.

Day 4

California! Crossed the border not 15 minutes before sunset. Hard riding all day with strong head winds and cross winds. It can really toss you around in your lane sometimes. Kinda feels like riding with a big fat guy leaning against you all day, and then sometimes he will slip and knock against you harder when a gust comes. I was expecting it to be hot today, but it really wasn't. I actually had to layer up across arizona. Finally seeing plenty of other bikes today, saw very few until today. Now is a good time to travel in the US btw, the entire country is like 5% off for canadians.

Also note, I wasn't in new york today. Either there was a glitch in my code, or with google latitude. I'll try to remove that data point from my database when I get a chance.

Bacon sunday anyone?

Posted April 26 2011, 12:24am via flickr.com.

Day 3

Crazy rain today. Spent 9 to 5 in the frog suit, riding in everything from light rain to torrential downpours and the occasional thunder cloud. I don't recall much of the remainder of missouri or the ride through oklahoma beyond the fact that it was wet, windy and cold the whole way. My boots soaked through, and eventually my gloves too. I changed into dry socks every gas stop just to keep dry. Riding in the rain and wind is tiring, and was almost ready to call it day at the edge of oklahoma. Then sunny texas came along around 5 o clock and I stripped down gear, switched visors, and it was like a whole new day of riding. Crossed all of texas and just into new mexcio and mountain time, made good time thanks to a generous speed limit.

Looking forward to warm weather tomorrow and finally being out of that giant swath of red on the radar map from the last two days.... Now to dry out.

Posted April 24 2011, 11:24pm via flickr.com.

Finally seeing sun for the first time today... Had to pretty much swim across oklahoma.

Posted April 24 2011, 6:48pm via twitter.com.

Day 2

If you're wondering about my route, I was heading towards st louis but it was hit pretty bad by a tornado last night. Apparently lots of damage and debris. Not only that, but they had stormy weather there today too. My strategy was bypassing it to the north, which not only avoided the mess it also kept me in the sun and away from thunderstorms covering the area.

Riding indianapolis to hannibal through Illinois was boring. Riding in the Ozarks and missouri was fun though. Sun most of the day, cool but not too cold. Didn't start to see any other bikes out until I hit jefferson city mid afternoon. All in all, a good day of riding.

Oh, if you plan on running over some highway workers, missouri seems like the best deal. In the US they have these warning signs next to construction zones posting fines and sentencing for hitting workers... Except it changes arbitrarily by state. So in like michigan its like $7500 fine and 14 yrs in jail, Illinois was like $15000 and 10 yrs (which is strange, why have a comparatively small fine coupled with such a punitive jail sentence), anyways missouri is practically free! $3500 and a suspended license!

Note: I forgot how to post on here directly via anything but flickr or twitter. Here is a photo just so I can send this via flickr :)

Posted April 23 2011, 11:15pm via flickr.com.